Fall Sports

Hawks tackle adversity

Cistercian athletes are known for overcoming adversity, and with fewer upper school students playing football than usual, this year was no exception. The team’s tenacity and resilience never wavered despite the odds. With leadership from Stuart Walton ’25, Brock Harrod ’25, and Cash Lechler ’25, the Hawks strengthened the foundation for the future of the program.

The season started with a very tough, nondistrict schedule including Frisco Legacy, St. Marks, and Grapevine Faith. The team battled and won their game against Grapevine Faith with the final play going viral on social media. In this matchup, Cistercian’s running game was unstoppable with five rushing touchdowns from Coleman Griffith ’25, Will McHugh ’26, and Patrick Sporl ’26. Behind 400 yards of offense and great defensive stops by Dean Nevitt ’26, Riley Murphy ’25, and Andrew Davis ’27, the Hawks were able to set up one last defensive stop. With three seconds on the clock, Grapevine lined up for a game-winning field goal. With a strong push by the line, the attempt was blocked and scooped up by Major Beasley ’26 for a time-expiring touchdown giving the Hawks their first victory of the season.

Cistercian went 1-5 in SPC despite respectable efforts on both offense and defense. The team’s struggles did not affect their preparation for opponents, however, and a trip to St. Andrew’s Episcopal in Austin secured another victory. With 231 yards on 30 carries and three touchdowns, Walton helped power the team past the Highlanders. It took every second of the game to earn the win with great defensive stops by Brett Sharp ’26, Harrison Hart ’26, and Tiernan Peterson ’28 as time expired with the Hawks ahead on the scoreboard after a fourth-down stop. Homecoming was a bittersweet ending to the season as we said goodbye to this year’s seniors. Facing a very good Houston Christian team, the Hawks’ raced out to a 12-7 lead in the first quarter and continued to battle all game with great efforts from Dillon Pitts ’26, Arthur Moran ’27, and Trevor Stanley ’28, who came in at quarterback and threw his first career touchdown in the fourth quarter.

What the season’s record cannot show is the strong leadership from the seniors and the enthusiasm of the underclassmen. With a talented middle school group rising and the underclassmen who gained experience this season, the future for Cistercian football is bright.

New training trail for cross-country Cistercian’s

cross-country team made significant strides throughout the 2024 season, and the addition of the new campus 5K trail played a large part in the team’s success. The Hawks won the team championship at both the Terry Jessup Metroplex Striders Invitational and the Southwest Christian School Invitational. These two wins positioned Hawks cross-country for a successful season.

Personal best records were made and broken. Top performer Ben Brittian ’26 returned to competition after missing the past season while recovering from an injury and set a new 5K personal record of 16:43. Will Oliver ’27 had almost a full minute improvement from his previous best and posted a 17:04. David Fernandes ’25 shaved 23 seconds from his personal best, and Anderson Lee ’28 and Rishi Gopal ’27 each improved over two minutes during the season. Several runners had improvements of over 20 seconds.

The team was fired up and ready to compete in the SPC Championship, but a series of unfortunate events derailed their chances for the win. A fall on the course and the illness of several team members prohibited the Hawks from performing at their best level and led to a fifth-place finish.

The future is bright as most of the team will return next year, including all-SPC runners Brittian and Oliver, who finished sixth and seventh respectively in the SPC Championship. •